Creating New Topics From the TOC Editor

You can create topics at the same time that you create a table of contents (TOC). This method is especially useful at the beginning of a project when you are first determining the structure of your output.

How to Create a New Topic From the TOC Editor

1. Open your TOC.

2. Select the location in the TOC where you want to add the new topic.

   Example If you select a topic entry that already exists in the TOC, your new topic will be placed directly after that existing topic.

3. In the local toolbar of the TOC Editor, click .

4. Complete the options in the Add File dialog.

   1. In the Source area, choose to create the new file based on a template or an existing file.
      • New From Template Choose either a factory template file or one of your own custom template files as a starting point. The new file will take on all of the settings contained in the template. If you want to use the factory template provided by Flare, expand the Factory Templates folder and click on a template file. If you want to use your own custom template file, expand the appropriate folder and click on a file. See Templates.
      • New From Existing Choose an existing file of the same type as a starting point for your new file. As with template files, your new file will take on all of the settings contained in the file you select. To use this option, click , use the Open File dialog to find a file, and double-click it.
   2. (Optional) If you want to place the file into a subfolder previously created in the Content Explorer or Project Organizer, in the Folder field click and select the subfolder. Otherwise, keep the default location. See Creating Subfolders.

   3. In the File Name field, type a new name for the topic.

      Note Spaces are allowed in the file name. However, if you are publishing output to a UNIX system, avoiding spaces in the file name is recommended. You can use underscores in place of spaces.

   4. If you want the heading for the topic to use the same text that you provide for the file name, leave the 1st Heading field blank. Otherwise, enter the text that you want to use for the heading in the topic.

   5. In the Title field, you can give the topic a title for the file. This does not refer to the visual title (or heading) at the top of the topic. Rather, it refers to the properties title for the topic. See Changing Topic Titles.

      If you leave this field blank, the text from the "1st Heading" field will automatically be used for the title.

   6. If you want the heading for the topic to use the default h1 style, leave the Style field blank. Otherwise, select a style to apply to the heading in the topic.
   7. In the Stylesheet field, select a stylesheet to associate with the new topic. If you do not have a stylesheet in your project, this field remains blank.
5. Click Add. The topic is added to the Content Explorer and opens in its own page in the XML Editor, and it is linked to a new entry (with the same name) in the TOC.

6. Now simply click inside the topic page and start typing text or adding any other elements (e.g., tables, images, hyperlinks, multimedia) appropriate for the topic.

   It is also likely that you will want to apply formatting styles to the topic at this point (Step 3: Designing).

   Also, you may want to adjust the placement of the TOC entry in the TOC Editor. Click the tab for the TOC to return to the TOC Editor. If you want to adjust the position of the topic entry in the TOC, select it and then use the arrow buttons in the local toolbar (, , , ). You can also drag and drop the topic entry to the location you want in the TOC.